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1,000 criminal cases may have relied on faulty DNA Testing at Colorado Crime Lab
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

1,000 criminal cases may have relied on faulty DNA Testing at Colorado Crime Lab

Colorado’s Joint Budget Committee in January approved a $7.5 million to deal with the fallout of an ongoing probe into a former CBI forensic scientist By Brian Eason | THE COLORADO SUN Colorado district attorneys worry that over 1,000 criminal convictions may have relied on dubious evidence due to “anomalies” discovered in DNA testing by a former Colorado Bureau of Investigation forensic scientist. The Joint Budget Committee last month approved a $7.5 million addition to this year’s state budget to deal with the immediate fallout. And the taxpayer costs are likely to grow, budget documents show. “That’s extremely concerning, and clearly quite a liability for the state,” said Rep. Emily Sirota, D-Denver, a JBC member. Department officials told the JBC the money would onl...
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Bill to make to-go alcohol law permanent passes committee
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Bill to make to-go alcohol law permanent passes committee

By Marissa Ventrelli | COLORADOPOLITICS.COM When restaurants were shutdown during the 2020 pandemic, a law allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages for takeout and delivery helped ease financial burdens for many business owners. With the temporary law set to expire in 2025, some lawmakers this year aim to keep it permanent.  SB 020, a bipartisan initiative, would remove the scheduled repeal of existing legislation allowing licensed businesses to continue selling alcoholic beverages for delivery or takeout permanently. The measure on Thursday cleared the Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee.  To address concerns about drinking and driving, the bill requires all beverages to be sealed in tamper-proof containers and delivered by an employee over th...
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Kill a police K-9, go to jail: Colorado bill would make harming, killing law enforcement animals a felony
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Approved, kdvr.com, State

Kill a police K-9, go to jail: Colorado bill would make harming, killing law enforcement animals a felony

By Heather Willard | KDVR-TV DENVER (KDVR) — A bill that would increase penalties for individuals who harm law enforcement animals passed through a Colorado House committee Tuesday, bringing it one step closer to becoming a new law. The proposed legislation is moving forward almost a year after the death of K-9 Graffit of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Graffit was killed chasing a man through a wooded area on Feb. 13, 2023. Police say he had a gun on the School of Mines campus in Golden before the chase. The bill would change the law on aggravated cruelty to animals to become a Class 4 felony. The bill specifies this would apply to anyone who knowingly or recklessly kills or causes physical harm that leads to the animal being decommissioned from acti...
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At CU Boulder, professor becomes a butterfly to cope with climate anxiety
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Approved, coloradopeakpolitics.com, State

At CU Boulder, professor becomes a butterfly to cope with climate anxiety

BY Molly Cruse | COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO Sporting an emerald-green morph suit and carrying a suitcase overflowing with colorful costumes and props, Beth Osnes certainly turned heads as she walked into the Colorado Public Radio newsroom.  Moments after her arrival, Osnes had transformed the newsroom’s largest conference room into a tropical, butterfly oasis. With the tables and chairs pushed to one side, in their place was a human-sized, leaf-shaped rug, laminated placards of a butterfly’s life cycle, and a giant, green hammock in one corner. A speaker in the middle of the room cemented the transformation by playing a soundtrack complete with bird song, music and the sound of trickling water. Osnes, who teaches theatre and environmental studies at the University of Colorado o...
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Bill requiring Colorado employers to display suicide prevention education passes through committee
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Bill requiring Colorado employers to display suicide prevention education passes through committee

By Marissa Ventrelli | COLORADO POLITICS A bill that would require Colorado employers to display posters and provide suicide prevention information in the workplace passed through the House Committee on Business Affairs and Labor this week.  HB 1015 would require workplaces to display posters created by the Division of Labor and Statistics that would provide information on suicide prevention training programs and educational materials. The posters will also include a QR code that links to a website to be created by the Office of Suicide Prevention. Employees will also be required to sign a handbook or manual that includes a notice about suicide prevention. All of these resources will be provided to employers for free. Ronald Dietz, a Littleton resident and survivor of...
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Colorado could be first to protect biological data from Big Tech
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado could be first to protect biological data from Big Tech

By Marissa Ventrelli | COLORADO POLITICS A panel of lawmakers approved legislation that would make Colorado the first in the nation to protect people's biological data from technology companies, raising worries that new machines could be come so powerful they could read thoughts.  The House Judiciary Committee advanced House Bill 1058, which expands upon the Colorado Privacy Act's definition of "sensitive data" to include biological and neural data.  Under the measure, biological data means information that provides a "characterization of the biological, genetic, biochemical, or physiological properties, compositions, or activities of an individual's body or bodily functions." It includes neural data, which the bill defines as "information that c...
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Fankhauser remembered as fierce advocate for beef industry
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Fankhauser remembered as fierce advocate for beef industry

Terry Fankhauser, among the state’s greatest advocates for the cattle industry, is being remembered by cattle raisers and dignitaries in Colorado for his unwavering devotion. Fankhauser died Monday, Jan. 29, following complications from a heart surgery. For more than two decades, he served as the executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, retiring in 2022 to return to the family’s farm in Kansas. Terry Fankhauser served for 22 years as the executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, retiring in 2022 to return to the family’s farm in Kansas. (Photo Courtesy Colorado Cattlemen’s Association) “We have lost a truly great man; a loving husband, dad, and friend,” said Robert Farnam of Brush, president of the Colorado Cattle Association. “H...
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Gov. Polis signs first 2024 bill into law, increasing earned income tax credit
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Gov. Polis signs first 2024 bill into law, increasing earned income tax credit

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday signed the first law of the 2024 session — a throwback to a measure from the 2023 session that got tangled up in a lawsuit from a Republican lawmaker. House Bill 1084 would double the size of the earned income tax credit for low income Coloradans.  The measure, a do-over from last year, intends to repeal and replace House Bill 23B-1002, which is now the subject of a lawsuit from Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs. Bottoms alleged he was denied an opportunity to have the bill read at length during the special session, and he sued the governor and House Speaker Julie McCluskie of Dillon. No hearing has yet been set for that lawsuit. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADOPOLITICS.COM
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Colorado lawmakers clash over ‘Bill of Rights’ guaranteeing gender pronouns, freedom from religious activities for foster youth
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado lawmakers clash over ‘Bill of Rights’ guaranteeing gender pronouns, freedom from religious activities for foster youth

By Marissa Ventrelli [email protected] Republicans and Democrats on Monday clashed over legislation that creates a "bill of rights" for youth in foster care — in particular because the proposal seeks to guarantee the ability to refuse religious activities and ensures the right to "express gender identity."  House Bill 1017 provides foster children 5 years and older with an expansive list of rights and freedoms, including guaranteeing access to services and programs, timely court proceedings and effective case management and the right to be placed in a safe environment free of abuse. The legislation also delves into gender identity issues, saying foster youth have the right to freedom of discrimination or harassment on the basis of gender identit...
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Denver City Council narrowly approves banning homeless camp sweeps below 32 degrees
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Denver City Council narrowly approves banning homeless camp sweeps below 32 degrees

By Noah Festenstein [email protected] Denver can no longer force homeless people to move from outside living situations during freezing temperatures, at least for the time being. The Denver City Council on Monday narrowly approved an ordinance to ban homeless encampment sweeps when temperatures fall below 32 degrees. The 7-6 vote in favor of the proposed ordinance was the closest vote in six months of action by the new Denver City Council. READ FULL ARTICLE ON COLORADOPOLITICS.COM
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